She Has Come
by DazedConfused
Summary: This is my first piece of Fanfiction - so be kind. Based after an episode from the second series. A woman comes looking for the witchblade, killing to give Sara 'messages'. Will the woman succeed in taking it from Sara?
1. Default Chapter

[Witchblade] [2nd Series]  
  
She Has Come  
  
Sarah laid back on her sofa and she gazed at the bracelet, the Witchblade. She had used it to kill, to protect and to survive, yet she didn't know if it was an object of good. Sometimes she almost thought she could feel it thinking and feeling, she was chosen to wear and use the blade according to Irons and Nottingham but did she truly wield it or did it wield her? From the moment she first put the bracelet on she felt as if everything was linked that it was leading her, controlling her. Her world had never been a simple think, being a homicide cop she had chosen a life of being always in the shadows chasing criminals through the darkness, always trying to reach the light on the other side. But now everything was different the Witchblade affected her work and her personal life, she stopped staring at the blade and looked at the ceiling. Truth was she didn't have any kind of life at the moment, the Witchblade had taken it from her and now everything she did some how led back to the blade. The phone began ringing; jolting her back to the present she sat up, reached over and answered it. "Hello Sarah" It was Ian Nottingham, Irons servant, protégé and son. She looked at the Witchblade and the stone glowed red, her mind replaying Nottingham drawing the sword across Daniel's neck, Daniel holding his throat and falling on to his knees. Her lips tighten as the anger flew through her; she sat straight in the chair willing her voice to keep steady. "You son of a bitch, what do you want"? "Are you angry with me Sarah"? He sounded almost surprised, as if she didn't have any reason to feel the hate she felt for him. "Angry, angry.you tried to kill him" "No Sarah, he couldn't be killed not by me anyway, only the Witchblade could kill him but you know that Sarah" The Witchblade glowed red and in her mind she saw herself plunging the blade into Daniels chest as if she was happening for the first time. "Why"? She heard the force and the pleading mixed together in her voice, she felt almost pitiful having to ask him for the answers. "I knew who he was, I was frightened for you Sarah, he could have harmed your friends or you. I did it to show you he was immortal so he would have to tell you the truth." Nottingham browed creased as he fought of her in bed with the man, he had done it out of jealously as well. "Why didn't you just tell me"? "You were in love Sarah, would you have believed me"? He closed his eyes at the word love, and with his gloved hand he traced the outline of her body on to the glass of the phone booth. "Why are you calling"? She wanted to get away from his calm voice and the memories it brought with it. "There is a woman Sarah who seeks to wear the Witchblade, she has searched all her life for it and now she has found you she will do whatever she has to so she can have the power it offers" He looked up to her apartment window "Goodnight Sarah" he blew her a kiss, replaced the handset and disappeared into the night. Sarah put the phone down "Goodnight then" she said to her empty apartment. She felt something inside that shocked her she was sorry that he was gone. He was the only one who knew everything, Gabriel knew about the Witchblade but not about all what it could do and what she had done with it. She had killed Irons and in Nottingham own words orphan him. Iron's was Evil and he had killed with the spear and then forced her into fighting him, she had killed him but he hadn't stayed dead, he still survived in some phantom way. Ian knew what she was capable of, he felt indebted to her for setting him free of Irons and for saving his life. His professing of his love for her was always awkward and hell sometimes even creepy but he had looked out for her more then once. There relationship was.Jesus she closed her eyes and shook her head.they shouldn't even have a relationship she killed his father he was somehow still in league with Irons and there was the feeling he gave her. It came from deep within herself the Witchblade brought it out, in a pass life she had been Joan of Arc hadn't she? In another past life had she and Nottingham known each other?  
  
In another part of town 'Dynamites' a hit club was rocking into midnight, hundreds of people danced, jumped, poised, threw up and fell over drunk though out the club. There was one woman that sat still watching the crowd on the dance fall moving to the music, a slow song started to play, it had a sexy tune which made the woman stand up and cross the dance fall. The club goers all slowed down and around the woman a circle appeared no one saw it but no one crossed it either. She walked over to a girl who was moving seductively to the music twisting up and down, her arms entwining in and out of one another. The woman reached forward and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, suddenly the girl stopped dancing and stared into the woman's eyes, she never looked away again.  
  
Danny, Jake and Sarah arrived at the crime scene; a alleyway between two apartment complexes and went over to the body, a young girl of about twenty lying naked with deep scars all over her body, it looked as if all her blood and seeped out of the cuts covering all her skin in its redness. "Hey Pez, check this out" Danny was crouch down near the corpse, examining a stamp on the right hand. "It looks like one of those stamps they give when you pay to get into a bar or club, can you make out the name" Sarah lent forward and her touch brushed the girl's hand, at once as if she was there herself she saw the dead girl alive and dancing in a large crowd. "Dynamites" she answer pulling away from the hand "Hey I've been to that place its cool" Jake interrupted "Cool" Danny asked raising an eyebrow at Jake and sharing a smile with Sarah "Yeah well it's probably the last place this girl was, we should go and question people see if they saw anything" Sarah said pulling off the plastic gloves "Jake your with me, Danny you want stay here, check the scene and wait for them to come and take the girl in" "Cool Dude" Danny said smiling jokingly at Jake.  
  
They met back at the Precinct, they went over what they knew which turned out to be very little. No one at the club saw anything unusual, no one there remembered anything odd, no one knew the girl or who she came or went with. Danny said that there was nothing at the scene, they decided to go door to door in the apartment buildings, and perhaps the girl had lived there. They still had to check with Vicky who was working on the girl's body. When Danny and Sarah walked in Vicky was pulling of her gloves and throwing them in the trash can. She looked tired and over worked Sarah thought but then again didn't they all? "So are you ready for something weird" "Another weird case for us, like I'm so surprised" Sarah said coming over and standing to the side of the body, when Danny was by her side Vicky pulled back the sheet that had been covering the dead girl from the neck down. Their faces paled and they tried not to let their eyes linger on the body; neither had seen anything like this before. "Jesus" said Sarah "Damn" this was from Danny. Vicky smiled with appreciation, it felt good to be able to shock them; working in her job she had out grown the shock and sickness that came with looking at the bodies of the dead, now she was only ever slightly surprised at the extent of damage one person could inflict on another. The blood now removed from the body the scars could be made out, they weren't just cuts they were words. Someone had used the dead girl to carry a message, had used her smooth white flesh to repeat the same sentence over and over. "She has come" Danny whispered, Sarah heard Danny's voice and then Nottingham's voice "There is a woman Sarah who seeks to wear the Witchblade". 


	2. She has come Chapter 2

~  
  
"She has come" Sara whispered under her breath.  
  
"You okay Pez" Danny asked concern filling his voice and face, Sara shook her head to clear away the thought and nodded, her lips pursed tight shut. She felt the weight of the Witchblade on her wrist, in the past when she touch someone or thing she had been able to see images of the past, present and future as if she was seeing with a third eye. She was about to put her hand on the arm of the dead girl when Vicky pulled a sheet up covering the body, leaving only her neck and face on display.  
  
"Now it gets weirder" Said Vicky  
  
"By how much, because this is pretty much at the top of my weird-o-meter" Danny asked moving around the table, Sara following so they ended up standing opposite Vicky with the body of the dead girl between them.  
  
"I didn't find any bruises, none on her hands or arms to suggest that she fought or struggled with her attacker. Or any bruises from being restraint so she couldn't fight back and no evidence that she was knocked unconscious. Which is strange as the cause of death was from lost of blood, some of the cuts used to form the words hit main arteries and resulted in her losing enough blood to die. Because she was alive as she was being killed I was surprised to see no signs of restraints, that's when I thought that if she had been knocked out then she wouldn't have needed to be but like I said apart from the cuts her body is clean. The only other solution that I can think of is that she was drugged; enough to keep her immobile but alive while she was killed. I've sent her blood and stomach contents to be checked, its marked argent so we should here back in a couple of hours"  
  
"So some time between going in the club and ending up in the alley way she was drugged, enough to make her an easy victim. The perp could have slipped something in drink back at the club" Sara said thinking out loud.  
  
"Maybe, I haven't seen any puncher wounds, although addicts are finding new places on themselves to shoot up all the time. But she could have been given something orally, trouble is if she was given it in the club then whoever gave it had to be precise"  
  
"If it's not the right dose then the girl would have blacked out before they reached the alley, not enough and the killer would have had to keep her talking until the drug began to work" said Danny, every now and then glancing quickly at the body  
  
"Right, so maybe were looking for a doctor or pharmacist, someone with know- how" said Sara  
  
"They would have more advance knowledge, but that's your job to find out" Vicky smiled sweetly, pulling the cover up over the face of the dead girl. "I'll run her prints and dental records through the computer and let you know if I get a match"  
  
"Thanks Vic" Danny and Sara called as they were leaving.  
  
Back in their office Sara and Danny began displaying photos of the crime scene and names of places and times and anything else they felt was relevant about the case on a large notice board. Jake joined them and they began going through all they had.  
  
It turned out that there was a camera opposite the club, Jake had gone through the entire tape for the time period the girl could have gone in the club. At 10.35pm the dead girl was seen entering the club and again walking out with someone else at 1.30am. The perp was on the other side of the girl so he/she couldn't be made out. A canvas of the area had revealed that there were no witnesses or none that wanted to come forward.  
  
"So the girl leaves the club with our guy, perhaps she was leaving to have a sex with him. That would explain why she didn't struggle going into a dark alley way - they wanted privacy. Then the drug kicks in and the girl is out cold and the killer starts cutting away". Jake said swinging his feet up on to Sara's desk and leaning back in his chair putting his arms behind his head. Sara looked over at his feet and raised her eyebrows; Jake cleared his throat and swung his feet back on to the ground. Danny let out a little laugh and Sara smirk, Jake sat feeling as if he was back home being told off by his mother.  
  
Sara glanced over the notice board from her seat fingering the Witchblade with her other hand, waiting for some new insight into the case. When it didn't come she leant back in her chair, tipping her head back and rolling her neck from side to side trying to relieve the tension that had built up there over the years. She was pressing the heels of her hands onto her closed eyelids trying to fight back the feeling of tiredness when all of a sudden the Witchblade glowed and she was having a vision.  
  
It was different from any she had before, she was seeing through somebody else's eyes. There was a dead man who had been cut but no words where on his skin. It looked like the person was in a warehouse, empty maybe derelict. And then the vision ended she jumped up quickly in her seat and blinked her eyes a couple of times glad to being seeing out of them again.  
  
Both Danny and Jake watched her, Danny had watched something strange happen to Sara over the past couple of months, one minute she seemed fine and the next she would act, well a little crazy. He wished she would let him in but no matter how many times he had asked she wouldn't tell him. It was his job to stand by her no matter what, he was her best friend and no matter what she was going through he would be there for her. "Hey Pez, you okay. If you want go get some sleep for a couple of hours me and Jake will be alright" Sara smiled warmly at her partner, if wasn't for Danny she would probably have lost it a long time ago.  
  
"I'm okay" Before she could add any more the phone began ringing on Sara's desk. "Pezzini" She listened for while before putting the phone and taking a deep sigh.  
  
"What's up?" Danny asked  
  
"It was Vic, she got a match off the computer from our dead girl's prints and she got results from the blood and stomach contents. Danny poised at the notice board and taken down the name Jane Doe and was waiting to write the girl's real name.  
  
"Her name was Laura Foster, she was 20. She had been arrested once for protesting when she was 18. That was the good news the bad news is that she wasn't drugged there was no foreign toxins in her blood stream or stomach"  
  
"Which means what, she just laid there and let some one cut words into her skins" Jake asked feeling sick at the idea of it. Just then the phone rang, this time Danny picked up listened intently and then grabbed for his jacket. "Another murder"  
  
The crime scene was in a warehouse that was in the process of being renovated into an apartment complex. The body was naked and there was several stab wounds, a new item was that the man's hands had been placed over his eyes. "See no evil" Danny said looking at the peaceful expression on the dead mans face. A sergeant who had been in charge of the scene up to then came over to brief them.  
  
"The man was found twenty minutes ago by the security guard who watches this building and two others. He found the man and then called us, a patrol car was sent. The main door was busted open without the alarm going off, the man's clothes were found in a pile with his wallet and watch a few yards away from his body. His name was Lyle Conner, 35 lives his New Jersey. The reason why we thought it was linked to your case was because of this"  
  
He led them past the body to the east wall of the warehouse, a few lights where being set up to illuminate the wall. They stood side by side looking at the wall which had been graffiti on with blood from the dead man. The sentence 'She has come for you' was repeated over and over.  
  
Sara went back to the Station alone, Danny and Jake where off talking to the dead victims families and seeing what if any links they had. Vicky had returned with the body and was at the start of examining the body of Lyle Conner. Sara had meant to come back to the office to try and piece together an idea of what had happen to these people, who had done this and why? The trouble was she kept thinking about her vision and that these people died because some woman wanted the Witchblade, those people died because of her. She had to stop this woman and Nottingham was the one person who knew who she was and how she could be stopped.  
  
Speeding over to Irons office on her motorbike memories came flooding through her head. Was she ready to see Nottingham again, speaking to him was bad enough. When she got to Nottingham's house the main doors were open, she knew my now where is study was. Nottingham was sat beside the fire in the chair that was once his fathers, looking into the flames.  
  
"Sara what a pleasant surprise"  
  
"Look Nottingham I can't stand to be in the same room as you so I'm just going to ask you a few questions and leave"  
  
"As you wish Sara, you know your welcome here anytime" She knew all she needed to do was outstretch her arm and the Witchblade would turn into a gauntlet and a sword would extend, in reaching distance of Nottingham's neck, she fought the impulse and focused on what she had come there to learn.  
  
"I believe the woman you told me about has kill two people, as warnings for me. I want you to tell me all you know about her, no riddles or half answers I want to know everything.  
  
"Everything is a lot to know" She frowned at him and he bowed his head slightly, looking like a dog that had been reprimanded "as you wish Sara".  
  
"Her name is Clarissa Reed; she was my father's lover decades ago. She wore the Witchblade for a short time before he took it away from her. Now she wants it back"  
  
"I know that's not all, what aren't you telling me?"  
  
"You should trust me Sara" Nottingham said raising from the chair and walking towards her.  
  
"Trust you; you killed Daniel so I would find out who he really was just so I would kill him. Maybe you did it for me in some twisted way but you know you did it for yourself, so I would be alone" She yelled, her whole being filled with anger and raged, "Ian you need to get it through your thick skull that I will never love you". For a moment he seemed devastated but the expression passed over his face and he moved closer towards her, his voice soft and calm.  
  
"More then once Sara we have been lovers, you would have done anything for me and I for you. In this life time nothing is different except you refuse to let yourself love me, somewhere inside of you are the feelings and memories of the past, if only you would opened yourself up to them"  
  
For every step forward Nottingham had taken Sarah had taken one back until her back was pressed against a wall. She knew that she had the power to stop him; she could use the Witchblade or simply walk away but his words seemed to recall something from inside her: the image of him in amour and the two of them making love. It was all in the past and no matter what she had once done it didn't mean it would happen again. He was stood a few inches away looking intently at her face and her lips. With a sudden quickness and force she grabbed Nottingham spun around and slammed him against the wall.  
  
"You're beautiful when you're angry" He whispered.  
  
They were now inches apart and a battle was raging inside her, feelings of love from a forgotten lifetime had resurfaced but in her mind she knew that to be attracted to Nottingham in anyway was wasn't in her best interest. They were staring at each others faces Nottingham taking in every line and detail of her face breathing in her scent, for him this was the most he could have ever hoped for, just to be breathing the same air as Sara Pezzini was heaven. For Sara whilst her insides were filled with turmoil, she let her eyes take in this mans face, as if seeing him for the first time. As she looked over his dark brown eyes and his innocent expression, his thick eye browns.  
  
Suddenly everything became clear. She eased her grip on him and moved forward so now their bodies were press together, Sara could feel the muscles of his body tighten and his heartbeat become faster. Nottingham could not believe that this was happening, he had dreamed of this moment for so long, was he dreaming now? No in his dreams the feel of Sara's lips on his skin was never so near ecstasy as the kiss she had just placed on his cheek. He was afraid to move, to break the spell that was working its magic over the two of them.  
  
Sara leaned back her head after kissing his cheek, she felt the animalist hunger inside of her and it was if she had never been kissed or been with a man in her entire life just being pressed up against his body was enough to make her aroused. Slowly she moved her lips to his and kissed him softly, he stayed still at first but then he began to join in. They explore each others mouth's with their tongues, becoming faster and more furious with each pasting second. Nottingham grabbed Sara by the waist and turned placing her against the wall, without thinking she wrapped her legs around him. She arched her back and tilted back her neck; he left a trail of wet kisses down her chin to the bottom her neck, his beard tickling her as he went. His hands lowered and met the curved of her rear, holding it firmly and squeezing, they kissed hardly parting for breath. She wanted him and he wanted her and that's when her brain finally caught up to the situation.  
  
Sara saw in her mind all the things Ian had done, the good and the bad. The sight of her killing Irons and then of Nottingham killing Daniel. She realized that although this felt good.how his touch felt good, it didn't feel right. Maybe she had loved him once but right now the Sara she was now, the woman she was didn't love him. Perhaps one day she would but today she hardly liked Ian Nottingham, whatever connection they had it was through the Witchblade and what it carried with it from her past lives. Not only that but Nottingham was not only Irons son but he was he servant, henchman whatever you what to call, could she really trust Nottingham? Or was this some part of a warp plan by Irons who was dead but very much not forgotten. The only thing she knew was having sex with Ian would probably be fantastic but it would be wrong and she didn't want to go down that path.  
  
She pulled away and was still; Ian dropped his head on to her shoulder and breathing hard. At that moment the passion and urgency had left, Sara's legs had un-wrapped themselves from around Ian and now her feet like her mind where planted firmly on the ground. They pulled apart from their embrace, Ian once more hanging his head.  
  
"I can't do this" she whispered.  
  
With out uttering a word Ian moved aside so Sara could pass, before she reached the door she turned back and said "I'm sorry Ian, I didn't.I hope" her throat was suddenly dry and she cough to clear it, she didn't know how to end this but in the end Ian did it for her.  
  
"You should go and hunt your killer Sara before she finds you"  
  
"Yeah.thanks" She smiled awkwardly and turned her back to him, as she went through the door Ian called after her,  
  
"Take care Sara"  
  
In her head she kept hearing Nottingham saying 'Take care Sara' over and over again as she sped through the city towards Gabriel's Apartment. 


	3. She has come Chapter 3

~  
  
When Gabriel opened the door and let Sara in he could tell something was wrong straight away.  
  
Sara had driven across town like a bat of hell, but it wasn't the swerving in and out of traffic that had left her shaken. After her 'encounter' with Ian Nottingham she felt as if she was in a dream everything was hazy. On any average day she would never have had feelings for Nottingham and if she did have any certain desires she certainly wouldn't have acted out on them.  
  
She marched into Gabriel's apartment/office and sat down at a chair by his desk. Gabriel was still stood at the entrance with the door open; he gave a grand gesture with his right arm, welcoming in an invisible person.  
  
"Please come in" He said with fake cheerfulness  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not in the mood Gabriel" Sara tried to get comfortable in the chair but felt to awkward she suddenly felt like she had a sign on her saying "I nearly had sex". She jumped from her seat and wandered through the shelves of weird and expensive artifacts that Gabriel brought and sold for a living.  
  
Gabriel sat down in the seat she had risen from and watched her intently; trying to figure out what was up.  
  
"So what can I do for you?"  
  
"What makes you think you can do anything for me?" Sara wasn't sure why she was being so defensive, after all she had come here for his help.  
  
"Because you rarely come here for a social call, although I'm sure you love to visit with my charming self, usually you want information of the.well occult kind"  
  
She couldn't help but smile and relax; he was a good friend to her without having any reason to be. She put down the shrunken head she had been pretending to examine and walked over to him, perching on the edge of his desk.  
  
"I'm sorry; I guess not enough sleep and too much caffeine will do that to yea"  
  
"Let me guess it has something to do with." Gabriel gave a nod in the direction of the Witchblade and Sara self-consciously turned it around her wrist.  
  
"When isn't it" she replied sarcastically "Apparently Irons had a girlfriend years ago who wore the Witchblade and now she's right here in New York looking to get in back. Her name is Clarissa Reed, for some reason she's killing or getting some one to kill for her. I'm not sure if there is some reasoning or great plan behind the killings but I feel like she's using them to leave me messages".  
  
Sara pulled of her leather jacket and put it over the crook of her arm, looking like a misplaced waiter. The Witchblade didn't need to work it's mojo for her see the faces of the two dead victims, she knew if wasn't for her and the blade they wouldn't have died in such a way.  
  
"Give me a minute, I'll to some research. Why don't you use my bed to get some sleep, you look like you could use it"  
  
"Thanks" Sara laughed dryly but all at once she did feel tired, more emotionally then physically. The last couple of hours had been pretty rough, she felt drained.  
  
"I guess your right I could do with a quick rest; can I use your phone to check in with Danny?" Sara stood up already looking for the phone.  
  
"Sure, make yourself at home"  
  
'Permanently' he added in his head and turned around in his eat to face his computer, before she could see him blush slightly.  
  
She used the phone near his bed so she could have some privacy, she wasn't afraid of Gabriel over hearing about the case. It was the idea that she would have to lie to Danny about where she had been and she didn't want an audience for that.  
  
She rang his mobile incase they hadn't gotten back to the Precinct yet.  
  
"Hello"  
  
Just hearing his voice made Sara smile. When you feel unconditional love for someone and you know they'll always be there for you, it has away of making you feel like everything is going to be okay even if your having a really shitty day.  
  
"It's Sara"  
  
"Hey Pez, where are you?"  
  
"Oh I'm following up on a lead, what about you any luck with the families of the victims?"  
  
"They couldn't be more different if they tried, she was a party girl. Into having fun and stopping out late, he was married two kids always home on time. They didn't live or work near each other and they definitely didn't travel in the same social circles"  
  
Sara could here the disappointment in his voice, it was so hard not tell Danny all that she knew but then she would have to tell him how she had learnt it which meant more lies.  
  
"So what about you, what did you turn up"  
  
She could hear the trace of eagerness in his voice, hoping do solve the case and help justice prevail. She thought about what she could possibly say that wouldn't need explaining, something that meant no more lies would have been told. That's when it came to her, an explanation that would satisfy Danny without having to lie and also keeping the Witchblade a secret.  
  
"I had an anonymous phone call from a man who wanted to meet up with me, alone. I met him and we talked"  
  
It was a stretch of the truth, Nottingham had called her and he must have known that if he mentioned a mysterious woman who was after the Witchblade she would be sure to come after him for information. And before things got hot and heavy they had talked, so really she wasn't lying she was just missing certain things out. Yeah right she thought to herself - what ever helps you sleep at night.  
  
"Who is this guy?"  
  
"I don't know, when we met he stayed in the shadows"  
  
"How did he get your number?"  
  
"I don't know" She closed her eyes and felt like a heel. She could here the silence on the other end of the phone while Danny thought it over.  
  
"Okay so some mystery guy gets your number, calls and gives you information all while staying anonymous. And you believed what ever he told you, Pez he could be a nutcase"  
  
"Look the press hasn't had enough time to print anything and this guy knows about certain things he shouldn't" Which was true - in a way.  
  
"Anyway I'm following up what he gave me like any lead"  
  
"Alright Jake and me will be at the Precinct if you need us, call if your informant's info pans out into something"  
  
"Okay I'll see you later" Sara but the phone down just as he finished saying bye. She was sat on the edge of Gabriel's bed; she laid her head down on his pillow and raised her legs on to the bed. She didn't bother getting under the covers she just laid there her body in a fetal position and closed her eyes.  
  
Sleep came soon after. Again she saw out of the eyes of the killer, she could sense that it was a woman - Clarissa Reed. She watched a montage of images flick one after another; the club Dynamites, the desecrated flesh of her two victims, a stain glass window and the wall of bloody writing.  
  
Sara sat up with start and saw someone hovering in front of her, in one fluid motion the bracelet morphed into the gauntlet and she grab out at the persons neck. As her eye's cleared of sleep she looked into Gabriel's stricken face and let go, the gauntlet receding back into its dormant form.  
  
"Gabriel, what were you doing sneaking up on me?" Sara asked helping him sit down on the bed.  
  
He was rubbing his neck with one hand, his whole body shaking. He steadied himself on the bed and hoped his voice wouldn't come out like the rest of him was feeling; as if he had been put in the rinse cycle of a washing machine.  
  
"I wasn't 'sneaking up on you' I was waking you up because I found out some information on Clarissa Reed. You know you nearly took off my head with that thing"  
  
Sara's face soften she had been on the defensive after her vision/dream, now looking at Gabriel she finally realized that she had come inches away from killing him. She put her legs on the ground so she and Gabriel were sat side by side. Sara gently bumped the side of her body against his and then away again, smiling shyly at him.  
  
"I'm sorry, are you alright?" She asked her voice full of sincerity.  
  
Gabriel relaxed and smiled back at her, wondering if someone was to see the two of them now would they be mistaken as lovers sharing a peaceful moment?  
  
"I'm fine, it's still sore but no serious damage was done"  
  
"Good. So what did you find out?"  
  
"Follow me" Gabriel said getting up and heading to the office part of his apartment. Sara followed and at Gabriel's request took a seat at desk as he got a pack of frozen peas out of his freezer for his neck.  
  
"So you know the tale of Medusa."  
  
"What Clarissa Reed is Medusa?" Sara broke in believing it at once but finding it bizarrely funny at the same time.  
  
"No, I was using the tale to illustrate my point"  
  
Sara was leant back in the chair with her hands folded lightly against her stomach; she smiled and raised her eyebrows at Gabriel.  
  
"Please illustrate away" she said with a little laugh.  
  
He moved the frozen peas around his neck which was already badly bruised. He smiled like a kid brother putting up with being teased by an older sister and carried on talking.  
  
"As I was saying Medusa was able to turn anyone who looked upon her face into stone. Clarissa Reed is if you like a modern day Medusa"  
  
"How so"  
  
"I'll get to that, first I'll start from the beginning. In 1963, France Clarissa Reed was born to a multi-millionaire and his wife. Her parents showered her with gifts; she had everything except her eye sight"  
  
"She's blind?"  
  
"Wait, wait all will be revealed"  
  
"Yeah, yeah just get on with Gabriel" Sara said losing her patience.  
  
"Like I said her parents were wealthy, they were also highly connected and traveled in the highest of social circles. In fact her father Fredric Reed was in business with and close friends with one Kenneth Irons. It gets better, a few days after her 17th Birthday Clarissa Reed's can see, and here I think is the reason why"  
  
He produced a piece of paper from off his printer tray and handed over to Sara. It was a photograph of a young teenage girl walking beside a swimming pool, she was smiling directly at the photographer and on her wrist was the Witchblade.  
  
"So Irons did give her the Witchblade and it was able to return her sight" Sara said aloud pondering what could have happen next to make this sweet looking girl a murderer.  
  
"But she didn't have it for long. This next picture was taken at the funeral of her father"  
  
The next photograph was of a more somber girl who looked aged compared to the last 'carefree' photo. There was no sign of the Witchblade.  
  
"Maybe she didn't wear it that day"  
  
"No I checked in every photograph that I could fine that was taken since his death, the Witchblade is absent from all"  
  
"Irons must have taken it back but why?"  
  
"That I can't answer" Gabriel said putting the pack of peas on a shelf next a tribal voodoo doll and examining his now black and blue neck.  
  
"From then on Irons dissolved his business and personal partnerships with the Reed family. Clarissa and her mother were left with the family fortune, Clarissa rarely was seen in public in later years but she did have a reputation"  
  
"What kind of reputation?"  
  
"This is where the whole Medusa story fits in. A few people over the years have surfaced saying that Clarissa Reed has the power to control people, just by looking at them"  
  
"Like a modern day Medusa" Sara finished with an edge to her voice.  
  
"You got it, so Clarissa wants to get the Blade back for what?"  
  
"The power"  
  
"On that note what is it like?" Gabriel asked looking intently at the innocent bracelet on her wrist.  
  
"It's like living in a world were you have no control but at the same time you more powerful in mind body and spirit then anyone could ever imagine"  
  
"Wow"  
  
"Yeah and then they're the days when your either killing or being nearly killed"  
  
Gabriel looked away from Sara and wished he knew the rights words that would lift the burden from her.  
  
"I better get going; I have a murderer to catch. Can I hang on to these?"  
  
She asked waving the photos, Gabriel nodded and she folded them away in her pocket. Sara stood up and placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.  
  
"Take care of your neck kid"  
  
"I will don't worry"  
  
Sara let go and walked towards the door and for the second time that day a man called her back.  
  
"I know you didn't mean to hurt me, it wasn't your fault" He called; she paused for a second before continuing, she opened the door and turned around to face him.  
  
"That's the thing Gabriel you did get hurt and I was the one to do, I would never intently hurt you but I did anyway"  
  
Sara pulled the door shut behind her and Gabriel slumped into the chair where his friend had just sat. He knew that it wasn't just the Witchblade and all the magical entanglements that it brought with it that made him help and be friends with Sara. It was Sara herself, there was something special about her that was partly the Witchblade's doing but it was also hers. Even if she didn't have the Witchblade and was somehow reborn through out the ages, Sara had something unique about her that he bet she didn't have even in a past life. He just wasn't sure what it was.  
  
Sara jumped on her motorcycle and once again sped through the city streets, this time back to the Precinct. She now knew the name of the killer and what she looked like, but would she be able to find her before the woman killed again or before Clarissa Reed came looking for her? 


	4. She has come Chapter 4

~  
  
Back at the Precinct Danny and Jake sat sifting through evidence. The trouble was they didn't have anything; no fingerprints, murder weapon, clues, witnesses, links between victims and no motives. They were sinking fast the first 24 hours in a murder case were crucial, anything that was to be learnt was usually in those first hours but they hadn't learnt zip.  
  
Sara walked in with her eyebrows raised in question and unzipping her leather jacket. Before Danny could grill her on where she had been the phone rang.  
  
"Talk about timing" he said when he came off the phone  
  
"Who was it?" Jake asked  
  
"It was another murder, they think it's our guy" Danny said putting his jacket on.  
  
"What is this time?" Sara asked as she zipped her jacket back up and followed Danny out the door, with Jake in tow.  
  
"A couple in central park"  
  
When they arrived the place was buzzing with reporters and grim on lookers. The first murder had taken place in the early hours of the morning the second hours later it was late in the evening now and dusk was upon the city. So much had happen in such a short space of time that Sara felt wiped out emotionally but she knew that her body was primed for action, the Witchblade saw to that.  
  
The bodies of Earnest Goldberg and Diane Keller laid side by side both sets of eyes had been gouged out of their sockets. Naked like the others their bodies had been cut like the last victim so their blood could be drained; they where laid beneath the over lapping branches of two trees. The trunks of the trees had the words 'she has come for you' knifed into its bark over and over, the blood was in the groves the words had made.  
  
Sara and Danny stood silently looking over the murder scene, Danny hoping he could forget as much as he could before he got home to his family and Sara feeling guilty for being the cause of their death.  
  
Jake had been talking to the first officers at the crime scene and now walked over to them and cleared his throat for their attention.  
  
"It seems we might be in luck, apparently we have a witness"  
  
"You're kidding?" Sara asked, she couldn't believe Clarissa had been sloppy enough to let someone see her, let alone let that person live.  
  
"A man out walking his dog saw three people walking off the path and towards the trees he was curious so he followed them at a distance, he was shaken up so the paramedics want to take him in for observation".  
  
The three detectives walked over to where the paramedics were treating the old man for shock. They informed the trio that they could question him briefly before he was taken to the county hospital.  
  
The old man removed his oxygen mask and looked straight at Sara and smiled cheekily, it looked like he was feeling better already.  
  
"Can you state your name Sir?" Sara asked removing her notepad and pen.  
  
"Sure, Joe Masters"  
  
"Can you tell us in your own words what you saw tonight Sir?"  
  
"Well like I told your friend here" he nodded at Jake and continued "I was out walking Freddie" He stroked the dog laying on his lap, the dog looked up at the mention of his name and seeming bored yawn and closed his eyes.  
  
"I was walking along the path over there when I saw three people; a man and two women walk off into the trees. I thought it was odd, you know at this time of night and the way they walked as well. So I followed them"  
  
"How do you mean the way they walked?" Danny asked Joe  
  
"Well the last one was the woman she walked normal - eloquent even, like a lady. The other two they walked stiff like those zombies outta of a horror picture, I hate those horror pictures".  
  
"So what happen when they got to the tree?"  
  
"Well the man and woman began taking their clothes off and the other woman just watched. It looked like they were up to something kinky, so I thought it was my job as an concern citizen to see that nothing untoward happen" the old man said as Sara tried not to smile.  
  
"After the two got naked they just went and laid down on the ground, they didn't move a muscle not one.the whole time" Joe Masters faced paled and he pull the oxygen mask up over his mouth and took a few deep breaths.  
  
"Are you okay Sir?" Danny asked putting a hand attentively on the old man's shoulder.  
  
"I'm fine son. At my age I've seen a lot of things, been in two wars - WWII and the Korean War. I've seen plenty of things that would have most people question God and their sanity but this, it was the way they seemed almost happy that she was cutting them".  
  
Joe shook his head sadly thinking of the horrors of the past, the present and those that would surely come in the future.  
  
"What happen then Joe?" Sara asked trying to coax the words out of him with a comforting voice.  
  
"Well they were laid real still and then the woman knelt down and was doing something to them, I couldn't see what at the time. Then she stood up and took a knife out and began carving into the trees. When she was done she knelt back done and picked something up, I think it might have been a bowl. Then it looked like she was painting the trees with paint. After that she put the knife and bowl away in her bag and began walking towards me. I was terrified - don't know why but I knew something was wrong even though those other two never screamed once I knew something was up and boy was I right!"  
  
The old man exclaimed taking another deep breath of oxygen. Sara had stopped taking notes and waited with bated breath to hear what the man would say next.  
  
"She walked right up to me and I wanted to walk or even run away but I couldn't she kept looking at me and just couldn't move. Then she smiled and told me I better ring the police.so I did"  
  
Just recalling the exchange with the woman had turned Mr. Masters into a confused scared old man. Sara knew that if Clarissa had wanted to she could have killed the old man and left no witnesses but she had let the man live for a purpose. The killings were to draw Sara out, so that she would hunt Clarissa. Letting Joe Masters live was to let Sara know once and for all whom she was if she didn't already.  
  
"I rang on my mobile phone; you know a few years ago I hated these things and the internet, computers and all those other modern contraptions. My Grandson said to me 'Grandpa you need a mobile for emergencies' and he wasn't wrong I use the little thing all the time now. I'm even on the internet and everything now, my Grandson paid for it all, such a good boy looking after his Grandpa - he's a Doctor you know"  
  
He looked over at Sara and gave a wink and a smile "A Doctor" he repeated.  
  
"Can you describe the woman who talked to you Mr. Masters?" Danny asked taking the notepad and pen from Sara, before Joe tried to fix the Grandson up with her.  
  
"Sure I can what a looker she was. She looked like she was in her late 30's, brown hair tied back and brown eyes, no wait green.actually I'm not too sure about the eyes. She was the same height and size as you" He pointed at Sara as Danny wrote down all the details.  
  
"After she had walked by me I went over to the guy and gal, thinking maybe it was some joke they were playing on people - Like Candid Camera. But then I got close enough to see them" He took a shaking breath and went on "They were dead, still warm though. Their eyes were gone; all that was left was sunken bloody wholes"  
  
He shivered and a paramedic who was standing close by ushered the three detectives away and told them if they wanted anything else they could see him in Hospital. Danny waved two street cops over and told them to ride in the ambulance with Mr. Masters and keep watch on him at all times as he was now their eye witness and could be in danger.  
  
The paramedic took Freddie away from his master and the dog began to bark, Joe looked worryingly at the Sara and Danny.  
  
"It's alright Sir we'll take Freddie here with us to the police station, your grandson can pick him up" Danny said smiling reassuringly. The old man thought this over as the paramedic secured Joe in the ambulance and gave a weak smile and called goodbye to his dog and the paramedic closed the doors.  
  
Danny handed over the dog to a uniform and told him to take him to the station and inform the man's grandson. As the ambulance pulled away Sara asked Danny;  
  
"So do you really think our fem fetal will come after Masters, she could have killed him early" Sara said  
  
"Maybe but I don't want to take any chances" Danny replied.  
  
When they got back to the Precinct Danny was quite and Jake sensing tension said he would hang out with Vicki until she was done with the bodies. Sara had driven back on her motorcycle in peace avoiding any questions but she could tell that Danny was about to play '20 questions'.  
  
"So are you going tell me what your informant told you and if it panned out?"  
  
Danny sounded tired and exacerbated, Sara now felt guilty even more if that was possible. Lying to her best friend, making him run-down and oh yeah being responsible for the deaths of four people.  
  
"He told me a name and I was checking it out. I still don't know if the name matched the woman who our witness saw"  
  
"Why didn't you let me in on all this earlier?"  
  
"I wasn't sure how reliable the information was, I mean he could have been yanking my chain. I thought that I would check out the name and see what I found."  
  
"So what did you find?"  
  
"The woman's name I was given was Clarissa Reed. She's from France, born in 1963 and is from a very wealthy back ground"  
  
"So why do you think she here in New York killing what looks like random people?"  
  
"Honestly I have no idea, I was given the name and I checked it out, oh I have this is a picture of her aged about 17"  
  
Sara took out the photo of Clarissa at her father's funeral and passed it over to Danny. He studied it and looked over the description that Joe Masters had given them.  
  
"She fits the bill; apart from the age gap of course. I'll get a sketch artist to age her face and then I'll go over to the hospital and see if our witness can identify her"  
  
"I'll search for when she came into the Country and if she owns any property here in the City, a millionaires might have thrown some money around" Sara said sitting at her desk and turning on the computer.  
  
"I'll catch up with you later, call me if you find anything of interest before then" Danny called leaving the office and taking the photo with him.  
  
Sara spent the next couple of hours sat at her computer and using the phone, she had found out new information but as yet no home address or phone. Clarissa Reed had entered the States legally on matters of business six months ago, there were phone numbers listed but they ended up going to voice mail.  
  
According to a few web sites Reed Corporation was a company that had its fingers in many pies. It was a silent partner in many small companies and invested in global enterprises.  
  
As she stared at the computer screen Sara couldn't help but let her brain wander. She thought about Daniel, how she had been drawn to him. The Witchblade glowed and once again she witnessed her lover's death as if it was happening all over again. Briefly the hatred she felt for Nottingham resurfaced.  
  
How could it be that she felt such passionate feelings towards Ian Nottingham when she hardly liked him? He had had a hidden agenda and a not so hidden one from the moment they met.  
  
He saved her life and she saved his, not only did she not like him but did he really like her. It seemed like a school boy crush, an infatuation. But he was right they had loved each other in a past life and those feelings of the past were mixing with the ones of the present. He wasn't all that bad, apart from when he was trying to kill her, stalking her or being creepy obsession guy.the rest of the time he's sweet, caring and lets not forget good looking.  
  
Sara shook her head to clear away the unwanted thoughts. She sat back in her chair and looked over her desk and the ever mounting piles of paper work.  
  
When she turned back to the computer she began searching for information on what type of business the Reed Corporation was in town for. After searching for a while Sara found what she was looking for in the archives of the New York Times paper. There were several articles covering the Reed Corp. and its plan to renovate buildings that were condemned or deemed to be falling behind the times.  
  
The mainly European business was now setting its sights on New York and was starting what some felt was an ambitious plan to renovate numerous buildings in run down areas of the City. It then gave a list of buildings that were in the process of or already given the green light for renovation. Mostly were owned by the City others Reed Corp. brought to be restored / remodeled and then be sold on.  
  
Sara scrolled down the names of the buildings; the ones that had been green lighted and where owned by the City had been in effect handed over to the Reed Corporation with monthly checks by City workers.  
  
Anyone of those buildings that Reed Corp. had purchase could be a perfect place for Clarissa to live in. Sara made a list of the ones that work hadn't begun on, two condemned apartment buildings, a bank that had long ago closed and a church.  
  
A church.that's when she remembered the vision she had early the one that didn't fit with the rest, a stain glass window. Is that where Clarissa Reed is hiding? Sara checked the address and went over to the map that was on a far wall. The crime scenes had all been marked; she traced her finger along the map until she found the church and stuck a pin in. Standing back she looked the map over, the church was practically in the center of the three crime scenes.  
  
She didn't have any evidence to back it up how would she be able explain it to Danny, the only real reason she was going to the church was because she had a vision of a stain glass window. She would have to go by herself and hope Danny wouldn't mind.  
  
She wrote a note saying: Danny, gone to check out a church that Clarissa Reed's business owns, marked on map the location. If I'm not back when you return come looking for me, Pezz.  
  
The time was just after ten o'clock when Sara arrived at the Church, she parked her bike across the street. The church was so old the stone work was crumbling and the roof had a number of wholes in it. The church windows were boarded and the door had a heavy chain stopping it from being opened.  
  
Sara gave a quick look to make sure no one was around and watched as the bracelet morphed into the gauntlet. Using the gauntlet she pulled the chain links apart and broken it fell to the ground. As she pushed opened the door the Witchblade was once again a bracelet.  
  
She was in the entrance hall of the church, in front of her was a set of heavy wooden doors leading she guessed into the church hall. She expected the doors to be locked but they opened and she had the sudden feeling that she was being expected.  
  
Light came in through cracks in the boarded up windows and someone had placed a few lit candles around the room. Sara drew her gun and moved slowly forward down the aisle, the darkness made it hard to see anything beyond a few feet away.  
  
The Witchblade glowed and Sara halted in mid stride, her ears had caught a sound at the other end of the hall from the pulpit. She cleared her throat and called out,  
  
"This is the NYPD, come out into the opened with your hands on our head".  
  
This was met with silence; Sara shook her head and thought 'why when given the chance to do it the easy way, do the jackasses always choose the hard way?'  
  
She walked down the aisle and drew near the pulpit. The church was the length of half a football field, filled with pews and nooks and crannies Sara's nerves were set on edge.  
  
As she stood a few feet away from the steps that led to the pulpit, she saw a figure behind the lectern. By the shape it was a woman - Clarissa no doubt, her back was turned and she was lighting candles. Sara was poised ready for action her gun trained on the woman.  
  
"I'm an officer with the NYPD put your hands on your head, turn around slowly and make your way towards me"  
  
The woman finished lighting the candles and blew the match out. She turned around and made her way down the short stairs, her hands remaining by her side.  
  
"So you found me, it's about time" Clarissa Reed stood before Sara, she looked more like a youthful thirty then a forty year old woman.  
  
She had on a tight black polo neck top and pants, she was very beautiful but it was her eyes that stood out the most. As Sara studied them it was as if they changed colours, before finally settling at a light blue/grey colour.  
  
The woman smiled at Sara who remained glaring at the woman, her gun still aimed at Clarissa. The two women studied each other. Both were curious about the other, the one that was and the other that had been.  
  
"Why did you kill those people?" Sara asked as she broke her gaze on Clarissa. The deaths had been so random and although she knew that it was her fault she still hoped that there was some other explanation.  
  
"A warning, you see I thought it would be fun to play with you for a while. As you're a homicide police officer I went into your world to tell you I was here. After searching for the Witchblade."  
  
As soon as she said the word Witchblade Clarissa began to stare at it and had taken a few steps forward, Sara had clicked the safety off the gun and Clarissa stopped moving. With both hands on the gun she could see the Witchblade, it was glowing red and to Sara it felt like it was being pulled towards Clarissa Reed.  
  
".for two decades it seemed anti-climactic to just sneak into your apartment and take the blade, I wanted to tease you a while" As she finished she stopped looking at the Witchblade but being so near to it again after all these years was making her anxious to own it again.  
  
"I hate to tell you this but you've wasted all the years you spent looking for the Witchblade, your never going to get it back"  
  
Sara was certain of this, although the blade felt heavy she knew that it was Clarissa drawing it back not the blade wanting to leave her. Sara knew that the blade was intertwining with her body and soul; both she and the blade were two halves of the same whole. It was designed to give power and she was born to wield it.  
  
"Irons knew that you weren't the true wielder of the Witchblade that's why he took it from you" Sara said knowing that it push Clarissa's buttons and it worked.  
  
"That stupid fool.thankfully you already got rid of that problem" Clarissa smiled at Sara who glanced down and then back up again, hoping not to have given away just how wrong she felt for killing Irons.  
  
"Tell me why he took it from you" She was trying to buy some time until Danny got there and they could handle the situation as cops but apart of her did want to know a small part of the blade's history.  
  
"I'll tell you everything Sara if you would like, I feel almost sisterly towards you. I guess it's because we've both worn the blade". She sat on the bottom step and Sara lowered her gun slightly and listened.  
  
"I first met Kenneth Irons at my family home in the country. He was a friend and business partner of my fathers; I was sixteen and besotted with him. When my parents threw parties he would drift away from them and spend hours talking with me, he never treated me differently because I was blind"  
  
Clarissa's eyes began to change colour again, Sara could tell that the woman had truly cared for Irons.  
  
"For a year we met in secret, my child like crush bloomed into love and we became lovers. A few day's before my seventeenth birthday he told me of the Witchblade. Kenneth told me all it could offer but it was the chance that it would restore my sight that made me eager to possess it".  
  
She laughed and shook her head, not quite believing how stupid she had once been.  
  
"On my birthday he presented me with a box and inside was the bracelet. It was beautiful but I didn't really believe it was anything special. Then of course I put it on"  
  
Clarissa smoothed her left hand over her right wrist and her eyes once again became blue.  
  
"After a few days of wearing it my eye sight came back no one could believe it I was sent to specialists around the globe, they all agreed I had perfect eye sight. The truth was my eye sight was better then anyone could ever imagine"  
  
Clarissa stood up and began walking back and forth, this was the part of her tale that she loathed and hated.  
  
"It started small I wanted a car and father said no that it was to soon after regaining my sight back. I didn't even know I was doing it; I just stared at him and wished hard that he would do as I asked and he did. I began to use it all the time, and of course there are all the other added benefits of the Witchblade. I could see certain things that were about to happen and those that already had, and I possessed a new found strength and agility"  
  
She clenched her fists at her side remembering all of what she once was, her back to Sara she hung her head in shame over what she had done next.  
  
"I used it for all the wrongs things but I couldn't see it at the time. I hurt and blackmailed and used it for doing wrong but my final act was the worse. One night as I lay wrapped in Kenneth's arms my father walked in on us, he was distraught and embarrassed of me. He left and I ran after him, we got in a huge fight. He banned me from ever seeing Kenneth again and told me that he would ruin Irons. I lost controlled and before I knew it the Witchblade had become a gauntlet with a sword and I was angry."  
  
She spun around and her once calm blue/grey eyes were now bright blue and icy cold. Her pupils became small as pin points and she gazed at Sara. Her face had contorted with raged and angry at herself, Irons, her father and the world.  
  
".I was so angry before I knew it I had plunged the sword into is chest. He fell on to his knees and then the sword had vanished and all that was left was the bracelet. He looked so betrayed and shocked. I sunk on to my knees and began to weep, that's when Kenneth came up behind be, he looked from me to my father and told me that our relationship was finished".  
  
Her eyes remained icy and strange but the anger subsided into pity and sadness.  
  
"I loved him; I killed my own father for him. The bracelet slipped off my wrist, it didn't want me and neither did Irons. I thought that I would lose my vision but I never it stayed with me as did the ability to command others to do my bidding".  
  
"I don't understand why you want it back" Sara said feeling pity for the woman before her.  
  
"I still remember the power that it once gave me even for that short time. But now I have notice that my sight is fading, I'm afraid I'm going blind and losing my power of.shall we say suggestion"  
  
"Not only do I have a gun I also have the Witchblade what makes you think you can take it from me?" Sara asked  
  
"Lets try shall we" said Clarissa she held out her right hand palm up and said "give me your gun Sara" She smiled and then is seemed to Sara as if all the candles dimmed and went out, Clarissa's her eyes becoming the only source of light in the room.  
  
Sara felt the power Clarissa had trying to bend her will, but she wasn't under the woman's spell. The Witchblade glowed, the light returned to normal and Sara lifted the gun and pointed at Clarissa.  
  
She titled her head slightly to the side and raised her eyebrows and asked in a fake concerned voice "I'm sorry isn't it working"  
  
Clarissa's confusion showed on her face, how could it be that for decades she had waited to get the Witchblade and now her mind control ability wouldn't work. This angered Clarissa; she let out a yell and kicked the gun out of Sara's hand. She grabbed for the gun as it flew through the air as soon as she caught it she began to fire bullets at Sara.  
  
Just as Clarissa had pulled the trigger Sara held her arm in front of her and the bracelet changed into the gauntlet and began to deflect the bullets whizzing towards her, Sara lunge side wards out of the aisle and behind a row of pews on her right.  
  
Clarissa fired all the remaining bullets at the pew and when the chamber was empty she flung the gun away and screamed.  
  
"Just give me it back" Clarissa screamed in a mad childish rage.  
  
Sara stood up and walked towards Clarissa, she hit her across the face with the gauntlet and Clarissa fell to the ground. She rolled away from Sara and jumped to her feet, it seemed that a fraction of the strength she had whilst wearing the Witchblade had remained.  
  
She ran towards Sara and jump high and moved her body so her feet would connect with Sara's torso. Sara watched Clarissa fly through the air and time slowed down. As Clarissa moved in slow motion, Sara stayed in normal speed and was able to step aside. Time resumed its normal speed and instead of Clarissa hitting her she hit the ground feet and then back first. She landed with such force that her body rolled a few times before stopping, sprawled out on stomach.  
  
As Sara came towards her for the final time Clarissa unsteadily pulled herself up on to her knees. She knelt in front of Sara, her arms hanging by her sides and met Sara's eyes.  
  
Sara moved closer and the church was filled with the metal clinking of the sword extending, the tip touching Clarissa's neck. Now she would die the same way she had killed her father she thought as she gazed up with her eerie eyes at Sara.  
  
But something happened within Sara, she knew what she was about to do and also that it would work but she didn't understand it.  
  
The sword re-tracked and Sara pressed the gauntlet against Clarissa's forehead, a white light emanated from the gauntlet and seemed to fill Clarissa Reed. A sudden force hit Clarissa and her arms flew up from her sides and hung in the air, a white light shining from the palms of her hands and eyes.  
  
The white light grew brighter and brighter before becoming so blinding even Sara had to close her eyes and then with a flash the light was gone. Sara pulled back her hand, the gauntlet gone and looked down at Clarissa.  
  
Clarissa's arm's had fallen to her sides and her head hung limp, she swayed and was about to fall over when Sara caught her and helped her to her feet.  
  
As she was regaining her balance Clarissa looked up at Sara and smiled a warm smile, gone was the bright blue eyes with pin point pupils all that remained was unfocused pale grey eyes.  
  
"Thank you" she whispered. Sara opened her mouth but didn't know what to say, she gulped and looked into the face of the now blind woman.  
  
She could hear the wailing of sirens and knew that at any moment the Calvary would be bursting through the door. She wrapped her right arm around Clarissa's waist and put the woman's arm around her neck.  
  
As they neared the exit the church doors burst open and there stood twenty uniform cops with Danny and Jake in the lead, all with their guns pointing directly at the two women.  
  
Sara held up her left hand and Danny and Jake lowered their guns and turning told the troops behind them to follow suit.  
  
Danny came forward with his gun still out but as he neared them he could see that Clarissa was nearly out cold; he holstered his gun and took out his handcuffs.  
  
At first Sara was going to object but knew that it had to be done, Clarissa Reed had killed four people - five including her own father.  
  
"Clarissa my partner is going to handcuff you now, don't be afraid"  
  
Clarissa nodded and with the help of Sara she put her wrists out in front of her for Danny to handcuff.  
  
"Clarissa Reed you are being placed under arrest for the suspected murder of Laura Foster, Lyle Conner, Earnest Goldberg and Diane Keller. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you can not afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?"  
  
Sara watched as Danny led Clarissa out of the church and into a police car, she had not only taken away the woman's sight but she had also taken away the evil that had been inside her.  
  
Back at the station Danny and Jake were interrogating Clarissa Reed while Sara watched through the two-way mirror. It was a few hours later and a lawyer representing Reed Corp. in America sat beside Clarissa, she had decided to co-operate fully and was in the process of answering the same set of questions for the fourth time round.  
  
"How did you pick your victims Miss Reed?" Danny asked  
  
"By chance, I just went out and picked them off the street" She didn't boast about her crimes or took any pride in her actions. She genuinely seemed ashamed and remorseful.  
  
All those years without the Witchblade had left Clarissa Reed needy, dangerous and insane. When Sara took her sight that night she also redeemed the woman, it was sad that the now sane and wholesome Clarissa Reed was the one that would be serving life behind bars.  
  
Jake was asking more questions when Danny left the room and joined Sara. He watched his partner watching Clarissa and then spoke.  
  
"She intends to plea guilty by insanity, I still think she was working with some one"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well because the woman sat in there is blind and seems physically weak"  
  
"She wasn't blind when she committed the crimes you heard her, she was born blind, regained her sight and when she found out that she would lose her eye-sight she went mad and went on a killing spree"  
  
Sara said looking away from Clarissa and staring at her partner. Danny was sharp she could tell he wasn't buying it but with the evidence that they had found in the church, an eye witness and the confession of their suspect the case against Clarissa Reed was strong.  
  
"Tell me again what happened at the church" Danny asked  
  
"Well she was telling me about how she was blind and loosing her sight, I was trying to stall her hoping you would show up. She kicked the gun out my hand and grabbed it, she fired at me and I dived behind a pew for cover" It kind of glossed over all the parts she couldn't tell but at the same time still being the semi-truth.  
  
"And she didn't hit you once?"  
  
"Well most of the bullets didn't go near me and when I was behind the pew the wood took most of the damage"  
  
"Yeah, I guess you were lucky" Danny said smacking his partner on the back and heading back into the interview room.  
  
~  
  
Later on Sara visited Clarissa in her cell. She looked up at Sara and smiled, she knew who it was. Standing she came over to the bars and looked in the space where she presumed Sara stood.  
  
"Hello Sara"  
  
"Hey Clarissa, are you doing alright"  
  
"As well as can be expected, I wanted to thank you again for lifting my curse"  
  
"Curse?" Sara asked  
  
"For you the Witchblade is a weapon for good for me it was a curse. Maybe it was because I wasn't a true wielder, that's why it changed me. I was once innocent and caring that's what Kenneth loved about me. He told me you see that the main reason he didn't want me anymore was because I had lost the thing he had loved about me the most"  
  
Clarissa had been holding the bars but now let go and Sara saw a single tear fall down her cheek. The woman seemed to have return in spirit to the seventeen year old she had been before ever wearing the blade.  
  
"Thank you Sara, now I can finally pay for all my crimes. My father loved me and I loved him, it was the blade and my love for Irons that twisted me"  
  
"Take care Clarissa.if you ever need anything give me a call"  
  
"I doubt I ever will but thank you for everything Sara".  
  
Sara went to leave but then she turned around and approached the woman's cell again.  
  
"I need to know one more thing, why did you leave the message 'she has come' in the third person?"  
  
"I see myself as three people, the young innocent girl, the power hungry killer and the woman I am now. It was if a part of me was still seventeen and whilst I was killing those people I was watching but not able to stop. I guess I left the messages to try and warn you that she was on her way. If you hadn't been immune to her.my powers then I would have easily killed you and with the Witchblade on my hand I would I have been unstoppable".  
  
"I guess because the Witchblade gave you your power and I wear the blade now I wasn't affected, it protected me"  
  
Sara looked at the small silver bracelet and back at the blind woman, she felt sorry for that young girl Kenneth Irons had taken under his wing and accidentally turn into a killer.  
  
The pair said their goodbyes again and this time Sara kept on walking. Clarissa sat down on her bunk and for the first time felt free, she was being brought to justice but also she didn't feel the pull of the Witchblade her addiction to it was gone.  
  
~  
  
Back in her apartment Sara fell on to her couch and kicked off her shoes and started to drink a cool refreshing beer.  
  
Looking at the clock she couldn't believe that just over twenty-fours had gone by, it had been a hell of a day. She picked up her phone and punched in Gabriel's number and took a quick swig of beer.  
  
"Hello"  
  
"Hey Gabriel its Sara, I was just checking in to make sure your neck's alright"  
  
"Its find, it hurts like hell but I'll be find. So everything ok at your end?"  
  
"We arrested Clarissa Reed; medusa is now off the streets"  
  
"Good job, so what do you have planned for the rest of the day"  
  
"Your kidding right, the Captain gave Danny, Jake and me the day off. I plan on going to bed and sleeping until my next shift"  
  
Gabriel laughed and smiled into his phone; closing his eyes he loved her deep voice.  
  
"Goodnight Sara, sweet dreams" he said softly  
  
"Night kid" She replied, sensing his feelings for her but not being able to think of him in that way.  
  
Sara finished the beer and changed into her night wear - men's boxers and a tight top. She climb into bed and tried to go to sleep. Every now and again her thoughts would drift back to Daniel but to her amazement she didn't feel anger anymore. She knew it was one more thing that she had to deal with and get pass other wise she would turn into Clarissa Reed. Empty apart from the need to hurt others, the Witchblade was a curse but it was also a gift. Clarissa was right with the Witchblade she could do good and she would.  
  
She was drifting off to sleep when her phone rang, she expected to it be work or maybe Gabriel calling her back but it was neither.  
  
"Congratulations Sara"  
  
"Nottingham, what do you want I'm trying to sleep"  
  
"I'm sorry Sara but when I heard about your victory I wanted to offer my well-wishes"  
  
The Witchblade glowed and she had a vision of her apartment window from the perspective of someone looking up from the street, she got out of bed and went over to her window. Below in a telephone booth stood Ian Nottingham staring up at her, he raised a gloved hand and pressed it against the glass.  
  
"Hello" he said, Sara put her own hand against her window and gazed longingly at Ian.  
  
"About running out on you earlier.I'm sorry"  
  
"I forgive you" he whispered in his usual deep and throaty voice, she licked her lips at the memory of his touch on her skin.  
  
How fast could he get up here she wondered.  
  
"I have to go, I need my sleep" She pulled her hand away from the glass and stepped backwards from the window.  
  
"And I wouldn't want to delay you, goodnight sweet Sara"  
  
"Goodnight Ian" she whispered before hanging up and climbing into her bed.  
  
Ian Nottingham stood in the phone booth and dropped his hand from the glass and lent his head back. He thought of the feel of their skins touching, her voice telling him goodnight and a smile crept on to his face and then in a flash he was gone his black jacket trailing behind him.  
  
The light and noise of a new day crept through her window but it didn't matter within minutes Sara was fast a sleep; a trace of a smile on her lips, dreaming happy thoughts.  
  
~ THE END ~ 


End file.
